Manchester and London teams descended on the city to take their place in box offices, and on Ticketmaster’s official Manchester Pride float!

Thirty-five Ticketmaster staff manned three box offices (one being open 24/7) across the three days to ensure that the thousands of Pride revelers had access to one of the biggest and longest running LGBTQI celebrations in the UK.

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It was the second year Ticketmaster handled the ticketing. Delivering this event is a logistical challenge for the Client Services and Field IT teams, one made more so this year due to the additional security measures resulting from the tragic events at Manchester Arena in May. Our teams not only rose to the challenge, but also made it look like so much fun – even those who managed the night shifts!

With the box offices taken care of, it was down to team Pride Nation to wave the flag on Saturday on board the float during Ticketmaster’s second year in Manchester’s annual Pride Parade. Our colleagues in the Manchester office, assisted by colleagues from across the UK, created a fabulous float based on a college prom.

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The theme for the parade was “Class of 2017” so we chose to decorate our float as a “Class of 1967 Prom” – both in honour of the landmark year when homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK, as well as allowing us to dance to our favourite ’60s hits that you can hear at the link!

The sun was shining, music was blaring and there was a live band on board! The Pride team adorned the float dressed in their best 1967 prom attire and danced to the best ’60s hits as the float wound its way through the streets of Manchester, waving at the crowd of 200,000 that lined the path. It truly was a sight to behold, and a wonderful day full of love and good vibes.

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Pride Nation is Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment’s LGBTQI+A employee network group that strives to create a more inclusive experience, company and world.

A big shout out goes to the Manchester Pride contingent responsible for the fantastic float and everything on board. It was great to see staff engagement from not just our LGBTQI colleagues, but also allies from all parts of the Ticketmaster family, many of whom gave up lots of their spare time to offer artistic, joinery and seamstress skills – in particular to Michelle Noble who worked so hard (during her own time) on the fabulous band costumes.

We couldn’t have achieved this without the drive, determination and project management skills of Joanna McNicholas, who was so organised throughout. She gave the float a full high school prom feel, including the live band and thrones for the prom king and queen.

And it was great to hear the enthusiastic shout out we got from Mark Fletcher, Chief Executive of Manchester Pride, as we passed the Mayor’s grandstand.

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Pride Nation’s second appearance at the Manchester Parade consolidates our commitment to the event, as Ticketmaster continues to provide ticketing for the event to much success. As Manchester is both a big gay heartland in the UK and a major Ticketmaster hub, it only makes sense that we get so actively involved and show our dedication to the city!

Until next year!

Story by Mel Perrett, Doug Smith and Garth Heron